Broomfield says no to marijuana dispensaries

At Tuesday meeting, council directs staff to reject proposoals based on zoning code

Shaun McGinness of Green Medicals in Northglenn, Colorado, works with another employee in identifying the quality of medical marijuana sold at the store on Wednesday afternoon. McGinness is the son of the store owner.
Photo by Paul Aiken / The Camera (PAUL AIKEN)

Fresh on the heels of several recent proposals to open medical marijuana dispensaries in Broomfield, City Council on Tuesday instructed the Planning Department to deny applications to potential distributors and told the City Attorney's Office to prepare to support council's decision.

Citing a provision in city zoning code that stipulates business proposals can be rejected if they are not “in conformity with all other provisions of law,” council told staff to deny requests to open dispensaries.

Colorado voters in 2000 decided to allow marijuana for medical use, but federal law prohibits all uses of the drug.

On Tuesday, the organizers of three potential dispensaries contacted Broomfield to see if they could open dispensaries in the city, Planning Director Dave Shinneman said. The organizers of one dispensary were far enough along they found a location and filed papers to allow them to collect sales tax revenue, one of the final steps before a business can open its doors.

At least one group also contacted the Broomfield Police Department, Chief Tom Deland said.

Rules governing dispensaries were established by state health officials this year after protracted and emotional debate.

Colorado law states that a designated “caregiver” can provide marijuana to a patient suffering from chronic pain or a debilitating health condition, but it's not clear to many exactly who or what constitutes a caregiver. In many cases, dispensaries operating out of storefronts and strip malls, have taken on that role.

Figuring out how to treat medicinal marijuana is a new problem recently thrust on many communities. Tami Yellico, deputy city and county attorney, said her peers around Colorado have been trying to determine how to guide communities' policies on the issue.

Amendment 20 — the provision in the Colorado Constitution voters passed in 2000 that allows the use of medicinal marijuana — is unclear on how marijuana can be distributed, Deland said.

State health officials ruled Colorado residents can possess up to six marijuana plants if they have a prescription and are registered with the state. Amendement 20 doesn't mention dispensaries and leaves open to interpretation just how the 10,000 patients who want medicinal pot statewide can legally obtain it.

“The fact that there are too many unanswered questions, that makes it difficult for me to support,” Councilwoman Lori Cox said. She said the idea of dispensaries distributing large quantities of marijuana “sounds too much like a free-for-all.”

It might take a court decision to determine where the law stands, Yellico said.

One person looking for answers is Chuck McGinness, owner of Green Medicals LLC, a dispensary in Northglenn.

Last week, McGinness applied for a business license to open a dispensary in Broomfield. He wants to remodel a long-closed convenience store on U.S. 287 near Laurel Street and turn it into the city's first dispensary.

McGinness said staff in the city's Community Development Department were helpful and told him other city departments and City Council had to discuss the matter before a permit could be issued.

“I'm a little bit surprised,” McGinness said of council's decision on Tuesday. “But every city has the right to decide their own policies. I'm disappointed, but they treated me very good.”

McGinness acknowledged the state's regulations for dispensaries aren't very detailed, and cities have to find their own way forward on the issue.

Broomfield Police Chief Tom Deland agrees the state isn't providing guidance for how to regulate dispensaries.

“It wasn't well thought out and there's been very little direction. None of this has been spelled out. There are no guidelines,” Deland said.

But it isn't illegal to grow or possess marijuana in Broomfield, provided people follow the state's guidelines for medicinal use. If police find a grower who is complying with those provisions, and has the registry card and documentation to prove it, he or she is within the law.

“We won't confiscate (plants) or issue a ticket,” Deland said.

The city doesn't know how many people might be growing marijuana legally in Broomfield, Deland said, but "he suspects it's pretty prevalent."

City Council was set to discuss the issue in a study session before the requests were made. But instead of focusing on the politics or beliefs driving the issue, staff tried to frame the discussion in the driest terms imaginable — how the city zoning code would govern where dispensaries could be built.

But the sudden number of permit requests and council member's personal opinions quickly took the discussion in a different direction and gave it a sometimes-emotional edge. Council members and staff initially treated the topic with a light touch and more than a few bad puns, but Councilman Randy Ahrens sobered the discussion when he spoke about his wife Mary Jane's long battle with cancer.

Any doctor in the state can prescribe Marinol, a medication that contains synthetic THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, Ahrens said. His wife uses the medication daily and it's been beneficial, he said after the meeting.

But Ahrens adamantly opposes distributing marijuana in other forms.

“What we're talking about is some people's need for weed. If they really have a medical condition, they have a way to get it,” Ahrens told council.

Other council members worried dispensaries would increase crime and legitimize the use of a drug banned by the federal government. Others were troubled by how the dispensaries would be regulated.

Councilwoman Linda Reynolds was the most outspoken critic of allowing dispensaries in Broomfield. Her opinion is that it will create more crime.

Licensed patients “don't have to come to Broomfield to get it,” she said. “There are enough places nearby. Let them handle the crime.”

Councilwoman Bette Erickson was the only council member to say she supported Amendment 20. But even she didn't want the banned substance distributed in Broomfield.

“If I, or anyone I cared for (needed it), we could drive to Northglenn to get it,” she said.

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